


a year from now we'll be together

by lookatallthemoresigive



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: "and then they sing a duet" "oH MY GOD THEY SING A DUET", Alternate Universe, F/F, Musicians, Punk Rock, californians pour their hearts out to people they literally just met can confirm, karolina came here to sing covers and unwittingly woo nico and she's all out of covers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 03:30:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13872180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookatallthemoresigive/pseuds/lookatallthemoresigive
Summary: So, honestly, this is the first time Karolina really meets Nico, when they’re both crying in the bathroom during the American Music Awards.Former religious turned indie pop singer-songwriter Karolina Dean is just trying to finish her breakthrough album. It'd be a lot easier if she could get a certain punk rock musician out of her head.Or, she was a girl. She was a girl. Can I make it anymore obvious?





	a year from now we'll be together

Karolina’s vision blurs from the tears as she scrolls through hundreds of tweets that have unflattering pictures of her on the red carpet from only hours before with the hashtag, #indeantrinated. Her mentions are filled with people calling her brainwashed and a cultfluencer.

When she hears someone coming into the bathroom, Karolina wipes her eyes, takes a deep breath and exits the stall.

Out of everything she had been expecting to see, Nico Minoru standing at one of the sinks in front of her, crying, was not one of them.

Karolina has seen Nico around, of course.

It’s hard not to, with all of her makeup.

But there’s a difference between nodding hello as you walk past someone at a party or backstage and having a full on conversation with them.

So, honestly, this is the first time Karolina really meets Nico, when they’re both crying in the bathroom during the American Music Awards.

It’s not exactly an auspicious start, and it’s made all the worse when they lock eyes in the mirror.

Nico freezes, a deer in the headlights, before hastily wiping her eyes.

“Is everything okay?” Karolina asks, stepping closer towards the sink.

“Yup,” Nico says, popping the ‘p’ as she re-applies her makeup.

“Wow, I really loved Riri’s performance,” Karolina starts rambling, because people always _notice_ Karolina, but Nico is a _force_ and honestly what is Karolina even doing here, in a theater full of people who think she’s just some religious freak. “Talk about–”

“Can you please drop the bullshit Girl Scout act? I don’t have the mental capacity right now to pretend like us talking is totally normal.”

“Sorry,” Karolina says, and begins to walk out of the bathroom until she realizes how tired of all this she is, and turns around. “I mean it. I really do hope whatever you’re going through gets better. And my positivity isn’t an act. I won’t let even this industry take everything away from me.”

“Yeah, well, too late for me,” Nico says, but she seems to meet her eyes, for the first time since they started talking.

“Then let's leave.”

“Yeah, sure,” Nico says sarcastically, putting away her eyeliner.

“No, I mean it. You’ve already presented, and we’re probably both hungry and miserable. Let’s just, go.”

Nico turns around and sizes her up. Karolina wonders if she can hear how fast her heart is beating.

“Alright,” Nico says, finally, her mouth stretching into a smirk. “I’m in. Lead on.”

 

And so that’s how Karolina finds herself at In-N-Out Burger in her $3,000 J. Mendel dress thirty minutes later, while Nico’s off at the nearest liquor store. She pulls out her phone and sees a text from Chase, good friend, inventor extrandionare, and plus-one for the evening.

_**Hey, where are you?** _

_Left early, can you cover for me?_

**A little warning would’ve been nice**

_Stomach bug. Would owe you forever!!_

**you already do ;) feel better. sweet dreams. i’ll see you tmrrw**

They'd been friends since they were in diapers, but sometimes it felt like Chase might be flirting with her. It’s hard to say.

They call Karolina’s order, and she pushes those thoughts aside to deal with on a less weird night.

 

 

Like anything in LA, it takes two hours longer than expected and a very expensive Lyft to get to the Griffith Observatory.

They end up having to hike a bit in their heels (Karolina’s grateful her dress wasn’t loaned) and their food is definitely cold, but it's a clear night, as far as LA smog goes, so the view’s worth it.

Karolina trades Nico’s meal for the whiskey Nico had selected, and takes a healthy swig.

They pass the bottle, eating in hungry silence until it gets awkward.

“My house is somewhere over there,” Karolina says finally, gesturing vaguely westward.

“I can’t imagine growing up here,” Nico says.

“But Seattle doesn’t have In-N-Out,” Karolina says, triumphantly munching on a fry.

“Yeah, but I would definitely trade hamburgers for people who aren't plastic bitchy automations. No offence.”

Karolina sighs and pushes her hair back. “Believe me, I know. I was lucky to have my church, and a close group of friends, but LA kids can be crueler than most. And then they grow up to be two-faced dicks.”

“Ah, so the Gibborim girl _does_ know how to swear,” Nico says, smirking.

Karolina rolls her eyes.

“I usually don’t let people's words get to me, but sometimes it can get too much.”

“Those pictures going around Twitter,” Nico says.

Karolina nods, unsurprised Nico has seen them.

“It probably wasn’t easy for you either.”

“Seattle kids could be pretty shitty too, especially if you aren’t white, but yeah, at least they were upfront about it. With my parents, Amy was clearly the tech wiz, so they focused on her. They threw piano lessons at me and I did just well enough so they didn’t notice the electric guitar in my room. By the time they realized their mistake, I was already out on the road, touring.”

“How’d you end up in the bathroom?” Karolina asks, emboldened by the whiskey humming in her veins.

Nico’s face darkens, and Karolina immediately regrets asking. Then she sighs. “Well, considering the rumor mill, you’ll probably find out sooner than later. My dad was cheating on my mom.” She grabs the bottle and downs the rest.

Karolina sits up straight. “Nico, I am so, so sorry.” She leans towards Nico, trying to figure out if it’d be okay to hug her. She settles for putting a hand on her shoulder.

“It happens,” Nico says, but her eyes are like steel.

Nico’s phone buzzes. She reads the text and actually manages a smile. “My boyfriend. He’ll be grumpy if I don’t bring him back some free swag. I better text my manager.”

“Alex, right?” He’s a DJ whose remixes Karolina actually enjoys.

“Yeah, he loves award shows for whatever reason, so he was bummed he couldn’t make this one. Though I’d never be able to convince him to play hooky. Honestly, I’m surprised you even suggested it.”

Karolina preens. “I don’t always follow the rules. Who knows? I could’ve planned to dip out and come here from the beginning.”

Nico raises an eyebrow. “In those heels?”

Karolina laughs. “Okay, fair. This was honestly the first rebellious thing I’ve done, maybe ever. That probably sounds pathetic to you, huh?”

“No, just your typical industry-induced case of arrested development. I’ve seen worse. Besides, it’s never too late to become punk rock,” Nico says sagely, and they both start laughing.

Eventually, their giggles subside, and they lie on their backs, looking up at the stars.

“Hey,” Nico murmurs. “Thanks. I really needed this.”

“Anytime. Except maybe we bring a wardrobe change next time.”

“Agreed.”

 

* * *

 

With the miracle of online shopping, Karolina is determined to avoid the outside world for the rest of the year.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t counted on her parents hosting the yearly holiday party charity fundraiser among their group of friends.

Though she does make polite conversation with some of the donors and family friends she’s known for years, Karolina mostly finds herself edging towards the open bar, until she spies a familiar face.

“Karolina!” Molly says, hugging her.

“Molly, hey!” Karolina returns the hug. “I’m so glad you could make it. How’s UCLA?”

“It’s great! I also got a job at a coffee shop in Westwood, so if you ever need a place to work…”

“I think musicians usually like to work in private,” Gert says, joining them. “It’s writers like me that want to suffer in public. Speaking of, how is the album going, Karolina?”

“Why, so you can tear it apart?” Karolina teases.

“Only if I have to,” Gert says, smiling.

As a writer for _Arsenic_ , the feminist music magazine, Gert was always more than forthright in her criticisms. Having known each other all their lives, though, meant it was usually constructive feedback that Karolina always looked forward to.

“It’s a work in progress. I’ve been super busy lately.”

“Oh yeah, how was the AMAs? Your dress looked super pretty,” Molly says.

“It was,” Karolina hesitates. “Fun.”

“Chase said you felt sick and bailed on the afterparty,” Gert says.

Karolina and Molly exchange looks at that. Chase always skipped out on any event their parents were invited to, so they must’ve hung out recently.

“Uh, yeah, I did,” Karolina says, deciding to spare Gert and herself the ensuing and totally believable rant on the importance of male-female friendships. “But I felt better the next day, so it wasn’t a big deal.”

“Speaking of big deal, are those mushroom pates?!” Molly points across the room, college student scavenger mentality overriding her sense of decorum.

Gert and Karolina fondly roll their eyes, but join her on her quest to gorge on hor d'oeuvres.

_Why didn’t she tell them about Nico?_

It’s a question that nibbles away at her for the rest of the night.

 

* * *

 

After the holidays rush, when she’s finally left alone for a blissful month to “discover inspiration for her album”, Karolina sits down and listens to Nico’s entire discography.

She convinces herself it really is for research. After her first couple of top 40 hits that had launched her into “respectable society” as she likes to joke with Gert, she’s been in a writing funk. Her mom had tried to convince her to go back to writing Gibborim songs, but as much as she loves the church, personally and professionally she knows she needs to evolve. Nico is well known for her musical innovation, so maybe it’d spark an idea, finally.

Also, Karolina can admit she’s a little curious.

Her debut EP is rough, maybe even intentionally so. It sounds like it was recorded live in a dirty, cramped hole in the wall, with the lyrics scratched out on bar napkins. It’s definitely not Karolina’s taste, but she can see why it got Nico noticed.

Nico’s first album is far more polished but just as daring. She flirts with and mashes genres together, creating a couple of grand-standing tracks that got her on the charts. Karolina’s favorite, though, is _Father Flanagan’s Home for Unwanted Goth Kids_ , a quiet, almost vulnerable ballad about growing up. It also has a neat, almost harp-like picking at the beginning that Karolina feels herself itching to try.

Her second album is angry.

It’s the one released a year after Amy’s death, and the pain in her voice is raw. Every track is bitter and incensed.

It takes Karolina a week to get through it.

The third album is more composed, tempered by time and comparison, but there’s a biting undercurrent to the sweeping orchestras and power chords, one not even a platinum collaboration with Alex can remix away.

After finishing the last song, Karolina flops onto her bed. With the affair, she wouldn’t be surprised if Nico smashed some guitars in the studio and sang “fuck you” over it.

She can’t exactly blame her if she did.

Karolina unlocks her phone and stares at her contacts. Nico’s number is filed neatly under Nico Minoru, one of few things that keeps her from believing that night was just some humiliation-fueled fever dream.

 _You’re an amazing artist,_ Karolina begins to type out. _I wish I had half of your courage._

She stares at the draft for a minute, before deleting it.

Karolina gets off her bed and picks up her guitar.

 

* * *

 

Two months later, heart hammering in her ears, Karolina ascends a makeshift stage and briefly wishes she’d thought of anything else to get out of her songwriting slump than to send Molly a text.

Karolina has played dozens of sold-out venues and awards shows, but this is the most terrified she’s ever felt, getting up in front of forty people who had decoded her cryptic tweet from earlier that day. Seeing Gert and Chase in the audience and Molly behind the coffee shop counter calms her nerves.

“Thanks for coming out, everyone,” Karolina says into the mic, and tunes her guitar. “So, I’ve never done anything like this before. There’s no setlist, no rules.”

The crowd cheers.

“We’re kicking you off the stage at 10,” Molly calls out, arms crossed over her Timely Coffee barista uniform.

“Okay, one rule. Alright, here we go.” Karolina launches into her first song.

The concert passes in a blur, until the third to last song, she finds herself hovering her pick. It feels almost too personal, maybe even a declaration of sorts. Then Karolina takes a deep breath and nods to herself, picking out the complex opening with a deliberate flourish.

After the concert and taking selfies with fans, Karolina makes her way over to her friends.

“That was so cool!” Molly says, nearly bouncing in excitement.

“Thanks for making this happen,” Karolina says, hugging her.

“Great show, Karolina! Was one of those last songs by Nico Minoru?” Chase asks. Karolina nods.

“I didn’t even know you knew that song, let alone how to play it,” Gert says.

“I listen to a lot of stuff. It’s not like my mom keeps me locked in a secret room in the church, churning out music.”

“That sounds suspiciously specific. Care to elaborate?” Gert whips out a pen.

“No comment,” Karolina says, and they all laugh.

 

* * *

 

It’s a miracle she gets to go to Coachella.

Though she’s technically too old to be grounded, having her mother as her manager made Karolina pretty sure she was actually going to be locked up in a recording studio after her “unnecessary and out of nowhere stunt, when she could’ve just done a Spotify Session like a normal person.”

She knew better than to tell her that was the point.

Now, as Karolina makes her way through the crowd, she’s wondering why she fought so hard to go. Even though the sun had set hours ago, it was still ninety degrees out. Karolina adjusts her sweat-soaked top as she finally makes it through the throngs to the VIP bar, already envisioning an ice cold margarita in her hand.

Maybe she’s imaging it a little too hard, because she bumps into somebody.

“Sorry, I didn’t–” The rest of the apology dies on her lips as Nico turns around. “Uh, hi!”

“Hey yourself.” Nico’s dressed in all black, and Karolina is impressed she doesn’t pass out in this heat, but as she’s one of the performers it’s probably required for her to maintain her image. “I heard your cover. Nice job.”

“Oh, you did? Thanks,” Karolina says, feeling far too pleased.

Alex Wilder emerges from the crowd with two oversized daiquiris and wraps an arm around Nico’s waist, and it all feels a bit like highschool. He hands one of the drinks to Nico and reaches out to shake Karolina’s hand. “Hey, Karolina! I heard your cover, it was great!”

“Thank you. I loved that new remix of _Abstract_.”

“Yo, Dean!”

Karolina turns around to see Tandy Bowen and Ty Johnson. Before forming Cloak and Dagger with Ty, Tandy had been a Christian singer, so they looked out for each other. “We're headed to the main stage. You coming?”

“Yeah!” she turns back to Alex and Nico. “Have a good show. I'm looking forward to it!”

“Thanks, enjoy the rest of the festival,” Alex says, and he seems genuine.

“I’m going to be in LA a couple of weeks from now. Let me know if you’re free.” Nico says.

“Totally!” Karolina says. “I’ll text you.”

Later that night, Karolina does watch her and Alex perform. Even in Karolina’s slightly intoxicated state, she can tell Nico’s a powerhouse live, her energy enthralling the crowd.

When Nico looks out into the audience, Karolina wonders if she’s looking for her. She laughs at herself. A performance of this magnitude means Nico’s probably just focused on her next chord.

Still, when Nico smirks after looking in Karolina’s general direction and then launches into an unexpected guitar solo, she can’t help but hope.

 

* * *

  

“Welcome to the Shitty Parents Club,” Nico says as she rolls down her car window.

Karolina snorts as she gets in. “If that’s what this is, then I have a couple more friends I would’ve brought along.”

“Next time, then.”

She’d thought about calling Gert or Chase or even Molly, but when Nico makes a creatively obscene gesture towards a driver who cut her off around Westwood, she knows she made the right decision.

The Mulholland Overlook is less of a hike than the Griffith and it’s just as beautiful, the dusk melting into the darkness when they arrive.

Karolina takes a swig of the Napa red wine she’d filched from her parents’ cellar. She knew it was childish of her, but that doesn’t make the first taste any less satisfying.

“I fired my mom.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Nico says, gently taking the bottle from Karolina’s hands.

They’re comfortable in the silence enough that Karolina only speaks when she’s ready.

“Growing up, I always thought my mom was perfect. To be strong enough to lead an entire church with kindness, compassion, and honesty. Guess I was wrong about that last part.”

Nico puts a cork back in the bottle and looks at Karolina. The moonlight is shining on them and Nico looks so beautiful, but Karolina feels like an alien, a stranger to this view she spent summers gazing at and the anger coursing through her heart. Nico nods, and Karolina continues.

“In some weird way, I get not telling me, or even Frank. But not to do so just to avoid a scandal for the church? Because my biological fa–,” she falters on the word. “Because Jonah is some sort of rich Gibborim donor?” Karolina barely makes it through the end of her sentence, tears streaming down her face.

She feels arms wrap around her.

“Hey. You have every right to be pissed. I know how much things like this hurts. It sucks. Completely. But it’s going to get better,” Nico says, stroking Karolina’s hair.

For the first time that month, Karolina feels like maybe, it just might.

 

* * *

 

 

She finds an apartment pretty quickly, all things considered, and everything feels more solid after that.

Her friends help her move in, mostly because Chase volunteered Gert and Molly into it.

Molly must be taking her summer job at the gym seriously, because she lifts most of the boxes like they’re nothing.

By the end, her arms are jelly, and tomorrow she'll have to assemble everything, but it's worth it. For the first time in her life, Karolina has a place of her own.

When Nico shows up for the housewarming party that weekend, a gift and Alex in tow, Gert drags her aside after introductions are made.

“How the hell do you know Nico Minoru?”

“You saw those Coachella pictures. We're–” Karolina pauses, because, well, what's a word that can describe someone you've only spent eight hours with in total, but those hours were spent pouring out your deepest emotional burdens? “–friends.”

Gert looks at her, unimpressed. “Karolina, there are _ten_ people here. I'm going to need a bit more than that.”

“That’s the end of the story. Now let’s have some fun! We moved enough boxes this week to justify the burritos currently on their way from that place off Sunset.”

“One of those better be non-vegan and filled with french fries,” Gert mutters.

Karolina nearly breathes a sigh of relief as she pours them both wine, glad that Gert for once just let it go.

 

Gert did not let it go.

In all fairness, Karolina should know better than to check her phone while hosting a party.

She hadn’t for most of it, talking to Nico and then watching to make sure she and Alex meshed well enough with her friends. Having known each other for so long, it could be an intimidating for newcomers, but they seemed to slide in without too much hassle. Satisfied, Karolina catches up with her other friends, enjoying the rare time they were all together in their hectic schedules.

Then she feels her pocket vibrate, so naturally she checks her phone to see that one of her friends had liked a tweet she was mentioned in.

One glance at the tweet makes Karolina storm over to Gert and drag her into a private corner.

“Seriously?” Karolina whispers, shoving her phone in Gert’s face.

The original twitter thread had been pictures a pap had took of her and Nico talking during Coachella. _Cursed images_ , read the caption.

 _Omg this is so weird_ was the gist of most of the replies.

Some, however, had a different take:

_i kind of ship it?? is it weird? it’s totally weird but i’m here for it._

This, of course was the tweet Gert had chosen to like.

“Calm down Karolina, it was just a joke. Unless there’s something going on between you two? Cause I’ve kind of gotten a bit of a vibe from you. I’d be totally supportive, of course!”

Karolina hopes the flush on her face can be chalked up to the wine. “No, there isn’t. And you’re a music critic, Gert! We’re not kids anymore. What you do has real consequences. What if this hurt Nico?”

“I’ll unlike the tweet, if you’re honest about who you really like.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Karolina turns, and marches over to Chase, who currently is arm wrestling Molly, most of the party cheering them on.

“Hey Chase,” Karolina says, joining the throng. “Want to go to the Pier on Wednesday?”

“Yeah, sounds cool!” Chase looks up at her, grinning. Molly takes advantage of his momentary distraction and forces his hand down onto the table.

The crowd erupts into cheers, and Chase gives Molly a victory piggyback ride.

Gert glowers at Karolina for the rest of the night.

 

For the first half-hour, the date with Chase doesn’t even feel like a date.

Even though they’re at the Santa Monica Pier, they’ve been there plenty of times before, together and with the others, so Karolina pretends it’s just a normal hangout.

They stroll along, smiling at tourists and stopping to watch performers, until they reach a sign.

“End of the trail,” Chase reads, but he doesn’t have to. There are film photos of him, Karolina, and Gert trying to climb up the Route 66 sign. There had been nights they’d clung to it, spinning around, drinking out of paper bags and feeling invincible. Every time they went to the Pier with Molly, Chase insisted on hoisting her up on his shoulders, even when she was far too old so they all had to put a hand on her to keep her from falling off, laughing.

Chase holds both her hands.

Karolina is on a beautiful beach with a beautiful boy she’s known all her life, warm rays caressing her face, and it finally hits her.

“I can’t do this,” she says simply.

“Oh thank god,” Chase says, dropping her hands.

Karolina glares at him. “Uh, I think I should be feeling a little bit offended here?”

“Karolina, c’mon. This is you we’re talking about here. If you actually liked me, we would’ve been dating ages ago.”

“So why’d you agree to go out with me?”

“Never said I didn’t, once,” Chase smiles, a little wistfully. “But I figured you didn’t feel the same way and got over it.”

“But then you wondered, what if.”

“Exactly.”

They hug.

“I, uh, I think I might like girls,” she mumbles into his shoulder, the words that had been building up in her throat the past months, years, finally spilling out.

Chase hugs her tighter. “I’m proud of you. Thank you for telling me.” He pulls back a bit. “Besides, we kind of suck sometimes, so can’t really blame you.”

Karolina laughs, and wipes the tears from her eyes. “Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

“Yeah.” He wraps an arm around her shoulder, and they begin to walk towards the end of pier, the weirdness between them dispelled. “But I only really want one.”

“Urgh, seriously, just ask Gert out already.”

“You know how she gets. It’s complicated.”

“Then uncomplicate it,” Karolina says, and Chase just huffs exasperatedly.

 _But,_ Karolina thinks as they duck into the arcade to play some air hockey, _is she really one to talk?_

 

Gert unlikes the tweet.

Weeks later, she catches Gert and Chase holding hands, and she and Molly wordlessly agree to give them shit for the rest of the summer.

 

* * *

 

Karolina writes.

Pages and pages, words and melodies jumbling together in her head but aligning themselves on the paper.

She burrows deep into her songwriting, occasionally resurfacing to go to Summer Nights in Chinatown with Gert and Chase, or to Runyon Canyon with Molly, and even sometimes to hang with Nico.

Karolina has done enough soul-searching for the album the past six months to admit that spending time with Nico has been her favorite part of the summer, for reasons not strictly platonic.

By July, she breaks down and puts on notification alerts for Nico’s tweets.

One day, Nico tweets out an article. Karolina, besides wanting to know more about Nico, has always been fascinated by the way artists come across in interviews compared to in person, so she clicks on it. The interview is pretty standard, until the end.

_**How was performing in both LA’s and Seattle’s Prides?** _

_“It was such an incredible honor! The energy during Pride is always amazing, so I was on like, a contact high for the rest of the month after doing two in a row. It really meant a lot to me, being bisexual, especially since I’m dating Alex [Wilder] right now, to just show people that it’s a real thing, and bisexuaitly is not conditional to the gender of your current partner.”_

Karolina already knew this, of course, but she pushes down the traitorous voice in her head that whispers about how she has a chance.

_**Well said. Alright, last question, you know I have to ask, how did you and Karolina Dean meet? It seems like you’ve been hanging out a lot lately. Full disclosure, I chipped in the company office pool so it'd be really great if you said ritual cult sacrifice.** _

Attached is a gallery of paparazzi and some fan pictures of them hanging out at the Grove, Paradise Cove Beach, and Echo Park. Karolina scrolls through them, trying to imagine what they must look like to other people, Nico’s heavy pale makeup clashing with Karolina’s bright summer clothes, but all she can see is how happy they look together.

_Nico just laughs._

_“Award shows really bring people together,” The twenty-two year-old musician says, smiling mysteriously. “Karolina is amazing. She grew up in Brentwood so she's shown me a lot of great spots around LA over the summer. I’m working on some singles, and she’s working on her crossover album, so professionally we help each other out, give advice, things like that.”_

_**So does that mean there might be a collaboration in the near future?** _

_“Who knows? Anything is possible. I'd love to work with her, she has an incredible voice.”_

Karolina smiles, giddy, and pulls out her phone.

**_i read the article :-)_ **

_Wait, you actually use the nose smiley? I take back all the nice things I said, you clearly must be an alien._

_**:-( you know too much** _

**_are we still on for perch this saturday??_ **

_Of course._

_**great, see you then!! :-)** _

_:)_

 

* * *

 

Karolina’s vibrating, looking out into the view of Seattle sunset in the window in an effort to calm herself. The last six hours had been reckless and spur of the moment, two words that had never described Karolina, but here she is.

It’s definitely worth it for Nico’s shocked face when she opens the apartment door.

“You said you needed a friend?” Is all Karolina can get out before she's enveloped in a hug.

 

“If I’d known finding out Alex had been on the phone with Amy before the crash and then consequently breaking up with him would get you out of LA, I’d have done it sooner,” Nico says as they sit down on her couch.

Karolina shakes her head. “I’m really sorry. I just, can’t even imagine”

Nico sighs, and Karolina notices the dark bags under her eyes. “Can we just, put on some really cheesy found footage films and forget about everything tonight?”

“Yeah,” Karolina says. “Whatever you want.”

 

It’s hours later, late enough that Karolina can barely keep her eyes open when Nico turns to her, an inscrutable look on her face.

“You’re my best friend,” Nico says, as if it’s just dawned on her for the first time. “Which is crazy, because the main reason I left that award show with you is just to see if you’d actually do it.”

Karolina smiles. “I know. I’m not sure if I would’ve, without you.”

“Mm,” Nico says, her face softening. She tucks herself into Karolina’s side.

They fall asleep on the couch, wrapped up in each other.

 

The sunlight filtering into the room is strong enough to wake Karolina up.

She groans, and when she opens her eyes it takes her a second to remember where she is.

By the time she wanders into the kitchen, Nico has just finished plating breakfast.

“Hey, no, you didn't have to do this. I came up here to help you,” Karolina protests.

“And I'm not eating poptarts for the world's saddest brunch a fourth day in a row. That's helping. So sit down and eat your eggs,” Nico says, waving her spatula.

Karolina rolls her eyes, grinning, and complies.

The weirdest part about breakfast is how comfortable it all is, like the amount of times they've done this wasn't some sort of fixed number but continuous, stretching onward to an uncountable infinity of lazy Tuesday mornings.

“–And I've got a list of things for us to do, but I need to know what time your flight is. Actually, what day is your flight?”

“Huh?” Karolina flushes. “Flight?”

“Yeah, your flight bac–holy shit. You didn't book one,” Nico says, looking slightly awed.

“I kind got caught up in the moment. I just wanted to be here for you.”

Nico covers Karolina’s hand with her own and squeezes it. “And you are, but you're also recording your album on Friday. I'm not letting Alex get in the way of that. So you go book your flight back for Thursday, and I'll plan out the two days we have.”

“Nico, it's okay, I've been to Seattle before. We can just stay here, whatever you need.”

“It's been two weeks. I'm just so sick of feeling trapped in here, so let's go do something fun. And I know you've been to Seattle before, but the only things you did were so touristy it physically hurt me to look at.”

Off Karolina's surprised look, Nico grabs her phone and hands it Karolina. The photo on the screen is Karolina herself, unabashedly beaming as she stands with a Starbucks cup outside of the original location at Pike Place Market.

“I should've never let you and Gert be in the same room,” Karolina says.

“Your real tour of Seattle begins in two hours, so get booking, Dean,” Nico says.

Karolina glides to her laptop, grinning.

 

They’re driving towards their first destination after Nico insisted on paying for her flight back, despite Karolina’s protests. The scenery is gorgeous, a vibrant green, but Karolina finds herself paying more attention to the road.

“Okay, I don’t get it.”

“Everything alright?” Nico asks, taking her eyes off the road to glance at her.

“No, I don't understand driving here!” Karolina says, gesturing to the traffic around them. “People are _polite_! And everyone's driving so slow, it's practically the speed limit.”

“Yeah, I almost died the first couple of times I drove around LA.”

“LA must seem like hell to you.”

“It used to,” Nico says mysteriously. “We’re here.”

Karolina tears herself away from Nico's face to discover that they are indeed parked, in what appears to be some sort of industrial area. “Uh, are we trespassing?”

“Not like we haven't before, but we aren't. C'mon.”

Nico grabs a blanket from the back of her car, and guides Karolina on a narrow, tree-lined path.

“Okay, I’m even more confused now,” Karolina says as the path widens to reveal a grassy area littered with concrete structures and rusty furnaces. “This looks like an abandoned power plant or something.”

“That’s because it is an abandoned power plant. Welcome to Gas Works Park.”

Now that they’re closer, Karolina can see it is indeed a park, with people strolling along and playing frisbee, downtown Seattle across the lake as a backdrop. “Woah, this place is amazing.”

“I thought you might like it,” Nico says, smiling. “It was in Ten Things I Hate About You, actually.”

“Really? I loved that movie!”

“Yeah, the paintball scene.”

They reach a slope overlooking the lake, and Nico stops them, spreading out a blanket.

They lie on their backs, enjoying the late summer warmth and watching the water taxis take off and land.

“So, any deep dark personal secrets you want to get off your chest?” Karolina asks after a time.

Nico makes a contemplative noise. “I like pineapple on pizza,” she finally offers.

Karolina bursts out laughing, and soon they're wriggling around the blanket in a fit of giggles, laughing so hard they almost roll down the slope. It just makes them laugh harder.

 

The next two days are filled with sightseeing, hiking and adventures.

It’s her last night far sooner than Karolina would like, and she tries to commit these last hours to memory; the way Nico’s hand feels in hers as she guides Karolina down the dimly lit stairs decorated with framed band posters and peeling wallpaper.

They descend to what appears to be a music venue, and weave past the throngs of people at the bar to a table that has a good view of the stage.

Karolina settles in and looks around. “Wow, this place is…”

“A grimy hole in the wall?” Nico says, raising an eyebrow.

“I was going to say cool, but that works too.”

“It’s one of the few bastions of grunge left in this city. I bombed a lot of open mics here. Best of all, everyone pretends to be too cool to recognize us.”

Karolina smiles as a man shoulders past their table, nearly spilling the three beers he’s holding.

“It definitely explains your first album.”

“My first album? Wait, did you _research_ me?”

Karolina’s face turns beet red, and this was not a conversation she wanted to have, ever. “Yeah, after we first met. I was trying to find inspiration for my album.”

“I was wondering where you heard _Father Flanagan’s._ It all makes sense now,” Nico crows, but before she can torture Karolina any further, the opening act comes on.

The bands are pretty good, but their presence is captivating. They have a full command of the stage, bantering easily with the audience. It reminds Karolina of why she loves performing.

Between acts, Karolina grabs a bar napkin and writes.

 

* * *

 

The second her face appears on the laptop screen, Karolina selfishly wishes Nico was down in LA. She knows Nico needs time now to heal on her own, but the past several weeks recording the album have been grueling, especially as she did some rewrites after Seattle.

“Wow, you’re actually back in your apartment. I was beginning to think you lived in the recording studio,” Nico says, eyeing Karolina’s surroundings.

“You and me both,” Karolina says, pushing her hair back. “I just really want to get the album right. I have to do it justice.”

“And you will. Just don’t kill yourself in the process, okay?”

“If I did that, then who would show you around LA?” Karolina says, arch.

A notification sound interrupts their moment.

Nico checks her phone, her face screwing up her face in displeasure as she reads. She slams the phone down onto her desk.

“Everything okay?” Karolina asks.

“It’s the label.”

“What’d they want?”

“They’ve been hounding me ever since I broke up with Alex. We were supposed to do this new Spotify Sessions cover collaboration thing, and they still want us to go through with it. Unbelievable.”

“I can do it.”

“What?”

“Use me instead. Our friendship is pretty popular on social media, and people want us to work together, if the daily tweets in my mentions are any indication. It’d be too good an opportunity for them to pass up.”

“Are you sure? You're in the middle of recording your album, and it'd be in New York, only a couple of weeks from now.”

“Yeah, we're making good time. I can take a quick break. We should be finished with most of the recording by then.”

“Okay,” Nico says, her eyes lighting up. “Let me go call them back.”

 

* * *

 

Offering to help Nico was a _terrible_ idea.

Sure, Karolina has seen her perform before, but being up close and personal, watching Nico tune her guitar was not helping Karolina manage her out of control crush.

Instead of catching a Broadway show and wandering through Strawberry Fields, where there would be a swarm of people around, they’re frantically cramming a week’s worth of rehearsals into one day, locked in a small hotel room, just the two of them.

“So, for the cover, what’s your favorite song?” Nico asks, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” Karolina answers immediately, and then blushes.

Nico looks up at her. “That’s weird, I’ve never heard you sing that before.”

“Wait, did you research _me_?”

“Yes, and stop dodging the question.”

“I don’t know.” Karolina looks past Nico and out the window, which overlooks Central Park. “I guess I’m afraid I’ll mess it up.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Nico says. “Your voice would be amazing for that song. We’re doing it.”

If Karolina believed in purgatory, this would probably be it.

 

The next day, an intimate crowd of Spotify employees watching their every move does not help calm Karolina’s nerves.

She pushes those thoughts out of her head, and they sing one of Nico’s new songs and one of Karolina’s songs off her new album. From what Karolina can tell they sound pretty good together.

“Alright, this is our last song. Thank you all so much for staying after work because you were morbidly curious as to what some goth chick and California Dreamin’ over here would sound like together,” Nico says, and the audience laughs.

Karolina takes a deep breath.

Nico turns to her and smiles reassuringly.

Karolina smiles back, and nods.

“ _Picture yourself in a boat on a river,”_ Karolina starts to sing.

 

They didn’t mess it up.

Karolina practically floats backstage on the thunderous applause from the audience. She comes back down when she sees Nico, who looks just as giddy as her.

“That was amazing! Your guitar–”

“–and your high note!” Nico runs her hand through Karolina’s hair.

They’re standing, far closer than they’d been sitting, and Karolina lets her eyes drift further downward, heady and invincible.

“Ladies, that was incredible!” Victor, the Spotify employee that had shown them around earlier, chooses that moment to find them. “You have ruined all other versions of _Lucy in the Sky_ _with Diamonds_ for me. Twitter is gonna flip once we release it on Friday.”

Victor sweeps them along, but in the back of her mind Karolina knows she can’t keep running from her feelings forever.

  

* * *

 

 

They’re in Karolina’s apartment, which makes everything feel heightened.

Of course, Nico has hung out in her apartment, before, but they were never getting dressed up like this.

“Sorry I had to get ready here,” Nico says as she puts on an earring while Karolina zips up her dress. “It’s just been such a busy day.”

Karolina's album drops next month, and with her private listening party happening next week she knows she's running out of time.

“We really don’t have to go out to this fancy of a dinner. It’s not that big of deal.”

“Karolina, you have been working on this album since before I met you. And now it’s done, so we are celebrating.”

Karolina looks at the two of them in the mirror, Nico putting finishing touches on her makeup and smiling back at her, and the knot in her stomach loosens.

“I’m good,” Nico says, getting up and turning to face her. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Karolina says, tucking Nico’s hair back behind her ear. “Just gotta do one last thing.”

She leans down, putting a hand on Nico’s arm as she gently presses their lips together, sweet and slow.

Nico pulls back, and great, Karolina has just ruined everything. “Sorry, I just really wanted to do that–”

“Karolina,” Nico interrupts her. “You couldn't have made a move after we’d gotten to the restaurant? It had good reviews.”

“What?” Karolina asks, slightly hysterical, but Nico just kisses her fiercely in response.

It's Karolina who breaks the kiss this time, though far later than Nico and more reluctantly.

Nico's eyes rake over her. “Actually, no, good call on before. Let’s be real, neither of us would’ve paid any attention to the food.”

“You knew?”

“I had a hunch,” Nico says, playing with Karolina's hands. “ Well, more like a hope. But I wanted to make sure this was what you wanted. With the way things have gone for me lately, I couldn’t risk you.”

“I was scared of losing you, too,” Karolina says, and they smile at each other, giddy.

They don't make it to the restaurant.

 

**ICYMI: An Excerpt From Gert Yorkes’ Review of _Kaleidoscope_ **

_**Kaleidoscope** is the most personal Dean has gotten, giving us a glittering glimpse into her struggles with fame and growing up in the public eye as part of a high profile family. Most intriguing are the mentions of her romantic life, which she has kept private for her entire career. The standout of the album is a single about multiple late night rendezvous at the most scenic spots in LA with an alluring stranger. While fans are sure to try to track down the object of the song (I have my own theories) the smoky number is coyly vague, speaking vividly of only the gorgeous views and the depth of Dean’s feelings for the stranger._

_Aside from a couple of weaker tracks in the middle, this might be the album to squarely perch Dean on the indie-pop throne. I, for one, welcome our new rainbow overlord._

**Author's Note:**

> So a while back, I saw a post on Tumblr about pop punk bands in the early '00s taking pictures at award shows with celebrities (think like, MCR and Reese Witherspoon) and two thoughts immediately rushed into my mind:
> 
> 1\. Oh my god this juxtaposition of people is so weird, I didn't even know they existed in the same universe  
> 2\. This is what Karolina and Nico would look like together to outsiders if they were both musicians
> 
> And thus, this 7k monstrosity/love letter to LA was born! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!


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